CASTLETON, Vt. – Despite a tremendous effort from sophomore keeper Amber McCullock (Morrisville, Vt./Peoples), Castleton got the only goal it would need early in the second half and the defense did the rest, shutting down the Johnston State offense and coming away with the 1-0 victory on Senior day at Spartan Stadium.  Johnson slides to 8-4-2 overall, 3-3-2 North Atlantic Conference (NAC) while Castleton now stands at 13-4, 8-0 NAC.

Castleton's Hilary Cooke (Marlborough, Conn.) scored just 1:31 into the period to give Castleton the 1-0 lead. She received a pass from classmate Courtney Chadburn (North Clarendon, Vt.) from just outside the 18 and took two dribbles before firing a shot which deflected off a Badger defender into the back of the net.

McCullock stoned the Spartans on multiple occasions, including a diving stop on a shot by Kelsey Garceau (St. Albans, Vt.) with 37 seconds remaining in the half. She finished the first 45 minutes with nine saves while her counterpart Ericka Davis (Cambridge, Vt.) forced to make a pair of stops in net.

The Badger's best chance to tie the game came in the in the 81st minute when Ally Bataille (Waterbury, Vt./Harwood) tried to corral a through ball just outside the six, but collided with Kelly Tetreault (Tolland, Conn.) and was unable to get off a clean shot as the ball went flying wide out of bounds.

McCullock would finish with a season-high 18 saves in the match while Davis made three saves for Castleton to earn the shutout.

 Johnson will travel to the University of Maine-Farmington on Saturday, October 22 for a 1:00 pm match.  The Badgers will be playing the right to host a NAC Quarterfinal the following Saturday.  The Spartans return to action next Wednesday, October 26 at 3:30 p.m. when they play Colby-Sawyer College.